A Super Christmas
by Mr.Moe
Summary: This story takes into account both Young Justice and Justice League cartoons and attempts to believably mesh the two together. Focusing on the relationship between Clark K./Superman, Diana of Themscryia/Wonder Woman, and Conner K./Superboy


A Super Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, Young Justice, or DC Comics. They are owned by Warner Bros. This story was written with only entertainment purposes in mind. The original idea and story foundation were PROFESSOR IMAGE's. Thanks for giving me a strong foundation on which to build. This story takes into account both Young Justice and Justice League cartoons and attempts to believably mesh the two together.

December 24, 12:31 AM

A thick layer of ice blanketed metropolis the previous night. The streets were filled with the busy chatter of Christmas Eve late shoppers. Every street corner seemed to be lit up with a dazzling display of Christmas lights proclaiming the joy of the season and greetings to all. Today complete strangers would stop to wish each other a "Merry Christmas" before going about their way.

Today Diana Prince met with Dinah Lance in the very same coffee shop that the two had been frequenting for the past two years. The two usually stopped to have a cup of coffee together whenever Dinah was in town. However, the distance between each other and their unusual hobbies made these little "get togethers" infrequent.

Diana and Dinah's conversations on days like these were filled with a colorful variety of topics. From sports, to their jobs, to men and even their unusual hobbies themselves, they covered it all. In some ways both women were much closer together then several other friends they interacted with on a daily basis.

Today though, the conversation was mostly lacking. Diana couldn't hold Dinah's attention for longer than a few moments, and this fact was starting to worry her.

"What is troubling you, Dinah?" Diana asked for what must have been the seventh time that morning. In answer, Dinah sighed and shook her head, the same as she had last six times Diana had asked.

Seeing Dinah so troubled really bothered a bit Diana. Diana, wondering what to say to break the other woman from her funk, reached across the table and took Dinah's hand into her palms and squeezed. This startled Dinah enough to curse.

"Damn!" said Dinah.

"Dinah, what's wrong?" Diana asked.

"Nothing was wrong until you tried to break my hand! Dinah claimed, shrugging the other woman's worries aside. However, Diana just gave her a lingering look. A moment later Diana's hands glowed a gentle purple and any pain Dinah felt subsided.

Dinah sighed, "So you can heal people now?" She asked.

A latent gift from my father… I haven't really explored it fully though, replied Diana.

Amazed by, Diana's new power, Dinah looked at her hand checking to see that the pain was really gone.

"What makes you think there's anything wrong?" Dinah said.

"You have that 'Ollie's being an idiot' expression on your face," Diana explained. The dark haired woman smirked at her friend, saying, "Not that that is anything new."

"Oh hush," Dinah groaned, shaking her head. "And no, it's not about Ollie. It's more around your territory then mine…" Diana raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"He's closely related to your stud-muffin," Dinah offered off-handily, propping her chin up on her hand.

"Who…?" Diana asked.

"Let me give you a hint," Dinah said, raising a finger, "He's young, he has a bad attitude, and he wears an 'S' shield."

Diana realized where her friend was going with this. "I'm assuming this has to do with the 'kids'?"

"Assume all you want. And it only has to do with one of them," Dinah explained.

"So we are talking about this "Superboy" then, right?" Diana asked.

"Conner," Dinah told her. At Diana's look Dinah explained, "Conner; Conner Kent. That was the name we decided to give him."

"Oh," Diana iterated, unsure of how to take that.

"Listen," said Dinah, breaking the subject, "has Clark talked to you about Conner any?"

"Nooo," Diana admitted. She explained, "It's a pretty touchy subject with him. I think … "Conner" unnerves him.

Dinah tsk'ed.

"That man," Dinah shook her head, "Has no problem throwing himself at Darkseid or sacrificing himself for humanity but as soon as his "son" is mentioned he runs for the hills." Diana frowned.

"Well, how would you feel to suddenly be faced with a clone that was designed to end your life and replace you?" Diana defended.

"You're defending him? Don't tell me that you condone his actions, do you?" Dinah asked her friend. Diana frowned.

"No, no I don't. I admit that Clark's being extremely unfair to the boy, but I trust that Clark will do what's right in the end." Diana explained her reasoning.

"And how long will it take for the "big boy scout" to take responsibility?" Dinah asked. Staring Diana in the eyes, Dinah explained, "Right now there's a boy out there who has no idea who he is, no idea about what he can do, no faith in himself, and he's about to spend Christmas alone. So do you really, honestly think that it's right for Clark to ignore his ties to Conner, especially now?"

"Surely the others…" Diana began to say. Dinah shushed her by raising a hand.

"Wally's invited Bart to spend Christmas with him and Tigress and he accepted, Tim's spending Christmas with Bruce, Kaldur's heading back to Atlantis, and M'gann, from what I hear is planning to spend Christmas with her uncle, J'onn, and Rocket and Icon are going home to Dakota. His first Christmas and he's going to spend it alone," Dinah explained, pointedly glaring at Diana.

"Oh," Diana whispered.

"It's not just that, either. He's been dealing with feelings of insecurity because of Superman, and now with Christmas here his feelings of resentment are growing stronger with each day. Being alone now for Christmas really isn't something he needs," Dinah explained.

"Oh, well, what do you plan to do about it?" Diana asked. Dinah gave her a long look, as if to say "isn't it obvious".

"Well," Dinah drawled, sitting back in her chair, "I figure if anyone can get Clark to extend a hand to Conner I'd figure it would be you."

"Dinah," Diana sighed, looking like she was regretting asking already, "Just because I'm Clark's girlfriend doesn't mean I can get him to suddenly want to open his heart to Conner.

Dinah nodded. "True."

Seeing her friend's look Diana relented, "Alright, I guess I can try to get him to see reason. But I'm not making promises. He can be pretty bull headed when he gets a thought in his head, you know."

"I can imagine," Dinah grinned.

"But if I'm going to do this then I at least want to talk to this Conner. If I'm going to put my neck out for him then I want to at least have one conversation with the boy that'll be most affected by this," Diana explained.

"Of course…" Dinah smiled.

December 25, 9:45 AM

"Team II" – as many of the leaguers referred to them as – were unusually busy for the season. It seemed that villains everywhere had gone into overdrive to get their quota of evil done before the holiday. In the rare moments when they weren't handling a disaster of some kind the team spent their time training and studying.

Since the schools had let out for the winter season, Conner had busied himself with ignoring the holidays. As a clone with no family to go to, Conner knew he would be spending the holidays alone. He tried to ignore this fact as much as he could, but it was still ever present in the back of his mind.

Conner often paid visits to the gym in the mountain to relieve his stress, but as everyone's cheer raised his own mood lessened.

Conner spent the next two hours locked away in the garage as the Super-cycle and Wolf tried to cheer him up. The isolation allowed the Superboy time to reflect on the events that occurred just the day before.

Conner couldn't say he understood why Wonder Woman herself would come to Mount Justice just to see him. His conversation with her was even more confusing. She had spent several hours just asking him random questions. It seemed as if she wanted to hear his whole life story. His answers were short, but he couldn't help answering her truthfully. By the time she left it had been dark, and from what she said Wonder Woman had been expected elsewhere that night. Conner walked her to the teleporters, watched as she teleported out of the Mountain. Even now he wasn't sure what he thought about Wonder Woman. Their meeting just left him confused.

At 10:35 AM that morning, he was interrupted.

"Conner?" Black Canary called as she entered the garage.

Conner put aside his tool kit just as Black Canary appeared, standing over him.

"Yes?" he asked, turning his head to look up at her. Black Canary folded her arms with a frown on her face.

"What are you doing down here?" the siren asked, arching an eyebrow. She jerked a thumb back to the doorway of the garage, saying, "You should be with your friends right now."

"Busy," Conner grumbled. He slowly stood, standing eye to eye with the female hero.

"Don't give me that bull," Black Canary argued. She frowned, saying, "You should really open yourself up more."

"Why?" Conner asked. He shook himself, saying, "Why is it so important that I socialize."

"It's not good for a boy your age to seclude himself away from the world," Black Canary explained. "You should go enjoy your time with your friends."

"I'm barely half a year old," Conner snapped. He grumbled under his breath. "Besides, I doubt they mind."

"Don't you even think that," Black Canary ordered. She poked him in the chest, saying, "You know your friends care about you a lot. Don't blame them for leaving this holiday."

"I'm not," Conner denied. Black Canary studied him for several moments before sighing.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Conner," she said. She brushed a hand through her bangs, sighing again, "You shouldn't keep blaming yourself for what happened back then. You should open yourself up more, be more honest with the others."

"Conner," Black Canary said, her eyes sympathetic, silence reigned over the two for several long moments. The Super-cycle and Wolf remained silent, watching the two. "I think today will hold many surprises for you."

"I doubt it," Conner denied.

December 25, 11:32 AM

These days the Fortress of Solitude was a lively place. Not only did Superman call the Fortress home, but so too did Wonder Woman. It had only been a few short months since Superman asked Wonder Woman to live with him, and since then the days had been kept lively.

The days were spent juggling both of their dual identities. They'd wake up in the morning, share a shower together, eat breakfast, and then zoom over to Metropolis to begin their daily lives. As Clark Kent, Superman was one of the best reporter's on the planet. As Diana Prince, Wonder Woman spent her time in London as an Ancient history teacher, at an all-girls private school, plus training her younger sister to one day replace her as Ambassador of Themscriya. When they returned to the Fortress at night the two let down their guards and dropped the masks that they wore throughout the day.

In more ways than one the two were equals. But it wasn't just her strength or looks that drew Clark to Diana. In a lot of ways she grounded him, helped to buffer his rougher sides. And in many ways he acted as the link that helped her understand man's world. For years the two skated around the idea of being together. They even had other relationships; Clark dated some pushy reporter and Diana dated a solider turned government official. Neither relationship amounted to anything as they were mere attempts at finding true love. Clark and Diana completed each other. They were equals and parallels to each other. So it was rather easy for them to adjust to each other's presence in their daily lives.

Today started like most days. Diana woke up early, smothered in the arms of her lover, and lavished in his higher body temperature. And like most days Clark showed no sign of waking for another hour or so.

Diana enjoyed the sense of comfort she felt from being held in his arms. The clock at the end of the nightstand read 12:12 PM. She knew that they'd have to get up soon, despite the fact that they were both off on vacation.

Diana idly traced a finger along her lover's jaw line. The eerie glow of the early noon sun that managed to peek into the Fortress highlighted the Kansas native in a gentle embrace. Diana admired the man as she silently waited for him to return to the land of the waking.

Five minutes later Clark Kent began to respond to the afternoon light. Eyes churning behind their lids, he fidgeted slightly as he began to regain consciousness.

When he finally opened his eyes Diana graced him with an angelic smile, a simple, "Hey," spilling from her full lips.

"Hey," Clark returned, with a smile of his own tugging at his lips.

The two of them admired each other for several long moments, basking in the noon light and the warmth of each other's embrace. For now it was too early for them to think of much else save each other. So they welcomed the quiet.

Diana slowly planted a gentle kiss on his lips. Clark growled something lowly in the back of his throat, which brought a smile to Diana's lips. Diana laughed herself when Clark picked her up and sat her in his lap as he sat up.

Kissing her, Clark relished in the touch of her skin. The two traded kisses for several moments more before Diana finally pulled away.

"What brought that on?" she laughed, shaking her head. Clark smiled.

"I was just reminded of how lucky I am," he admitted. Diana smiled.

Tapping him on the nose, she said, "You bet your cape you are," she grinned. Then she fled the warmth of his arms to vacate the bed. Turning to him she said, "Now – how about we finally get started on the day?" she asked. "Shower with me!" Her words trailed her as she sauntered to the bathroom.

"As you wish," Clark blurred to the bathroom.

An hour later found the two in the kitchen of the Fortress. Diana was toweling her hair and Clark was looting the refrigerator.

"So – Bruce is holding Christmas with all the 'bats' this year?" Diana asked, though already knowing the answer.

Clark nodded anyways, but since his head was in the fridge he said, "Yup."

"And Wally and Artemis are having Christmas with Bart, Arthur's holding a feast for Aqualad, and J'onn's entertaining his whole family," and Augustus will be in Dakota with Raquel, Diana went on to say. Tying a knot in the towel wrapped around her head, she said, "I can't help seeing a trend here."

"No clue what you mean," Clark said as he came up for air with a cartoon of orange juice in hand.

"C'mon, Clark," Diana said, motioning with her hand, "It's the holidays. Do you really think it's healthy for him to spend them alone?"

"Who are we talking about, again?" Clark asked, truly not understanding what she was talking about.

"Conner," Diana explained, patiently. Clark drew a blank.

"Who is Conner?" he asked. Diana palmed her face.

"Conner, Conner Kent. Project Kr, he has a name now! Clark, haven't you been keeping up with this stuff?" Diana asked.

"You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you?" Clark asked with a straight face. Diana sighed.

"Yes, Clark, I'm talking about Superboy," Diana watched as a torrent of emotions quickly flashed across her boyfriend's features.

"I thought we agreed not to discuss him," Clark said, a hint of anger in his voice. He really couldn't be angry with Diana, but this subject was very touchy for him.

"And I would still be silent if he wasn't going to be spending Christmas alone," Diana sighed. "Don't you think that he at least deserves to be with his family?"

"I'm not his father!" Clark denied. Diana raised an eyebrow.

"I never said anything about you being his father, Clark," she explained. "Clark, you can deny any relation to him all you want, but he's not going away. What are you so afraid of?"

"I don't see why we're having this discussion to begin with," Clark argued. He set aside his orange juice before his mounting anger caused him to make a mess of the kitchen. Breathing deeply, Clark said, "Can't he go spend Christmas with someone else?"

"Clark," Diana frowned, "don't even start that."

"Start what?" he denied.

"Pushing him off on someone else," she exclaimed. Continuing, Diana pointed a finger at him, "I've watched you shrug off your responsibilities and ignore this boy for months now, Clark! How can you just be so cruel?"

"Cruel?" Clark growled, "How am I being cruel? Have you forgotten that he was designed to destroy me and take my place?

"He isn't like that," Diana denied. She raised herself to her feet with an outraged expression so clearly evident on her face.

"How do you know? Have you even talked to him?" Clark asked.

"Have you?" Diana challenged, "Because I can assure you that I have! And despite some of the unique personality quirks that you, share, he seems like a normal teenage boy…." Breathing heavily, Diana admitted, "Or, at least, a normal teenage boy except for the extreme feelings of insecurity and low self- esteem he possesses."

"What?" Clark exclaimed.

"You heard me, Clark," Diana finally sank back down in her chair, feeling more exhausted then she looked.

Sitting down in the chair opposite of her, Clark kneaded his hands together, looking more alarmed then he had since his last battle with Darkseid.

"Are you being serious?" Clark asked, finally breaking the silence.

Sighing, Diana reached across the table and clasped Clark's hand in her own.

"Yes, Clark, I'm serious," she told him.

"And it's all because of me?" he didn't need to be told as much to know that that's was what she was thinking.

"It seems Black Canary thinks so," she said. At his look she said, "She sometimes talks to me about the teams she explained.

"Do you trust her diagnosis?" he asked. Diana sighed again.

"We both know that she's a miracle worker when it comes to the psych evaluations and treatments," she told him. She nodded, " And yes, I do Clark. I trust her opinions completely."

"I am being a little bull headed here, aren't I?" he asked with an uneasy grin. She smiled, clenching his hand in hers.

"A little, yeah," she admitted.

"Do you think I should go invite him to the party?" he asked her. She smiled.

"Of course I do, Clark," she told him. He nodded.

"I'll…try…" he said. He seemed to cringe inwardly, saying, "No promises, though."

"You can do it, Clark," she said, "You can do anything… You're Superman!" She said with conviction and tenderness then kissed him.

December 25, 12:59 PM

Conner slapped his pillow furiously. His frustrations weren't directed at the pillow, but since he couldn't relieve his anger on anything else it would have to do.

The whirr of the air condition cut through the silent room. He stared ahead at the ceiling, imaging his friends getting ready to head out. He tried to ignore the biting jealously burning in the pit of his gut, but it was a little hard to do.

Conner knew that he'd have to wait till the others left before he could go watch TV or use the kitchen, or even make his way to the garage. He wouldn't chance running into the others while he was in this kind of mood.

A few minutes past 1 o'clock there was a knock on his door. Conner turned on his side, glaring at the door with his lowly smoldering anger.

The knocking continued for several minutes, growing louder and sharper with each knock.

"Conner," it was M'gann's voice that came through the doorway.

Conner tried to tune the girl out, but she continued, saying, "Conner, I know you can hear me. Open up."

"Go away," Conner whispered.

"Conner, you better quit pouting and come open this door right now!" she ordered through the door between them.

"Leave me alone!" Conner exclaimed.

Conner heard her sigh audibly, even through the door.

"Conner, I just wanted to let you know that you have a visitor – and it would make me really happy if you'd quit sulking. C'mon greet him," she said.

"Who is it?" Conner asked.

A pause, then, "You'll have to come see."

Conner grumbled lowly, pulling himself from his bed. Heading to the door, the clone threw open the door and was greeted by the sight of Miss Martian herself shifting from one foot to another in his doorway.

"Conner!" M'gann exclaimed. She threw her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders and hugged him close.

As she pulled away Conner said, "Thanks." It was obvious that he felt a little awkward after that display of emotion.

"I'm sorry," M'gann said, all smiles, "I'm just really happy for you."

"What are you talking about?" Conner asked, alarmed and cautious at her words, "Is this about my visitor?"

"You'll have to wait and see," she promised. She took his hand and led him through the mountain.

They eventually arrived back in the living room to find that a collection of people were waiting. The Flash's, J'onn, Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Icon and Rocket, Aqualad and Artemis were waiting there, busy talking. But it was the last person that stood waiting that drew Conner's attention.

"Superman," Conner breathed in alarm.

"It's okay, Conner," M'gann said, "He's here to see you."

M'gann led Conner towards Superman, who was silently staring at Conner with an expression that mirrored the clone's own expression. They were both stone-faced, jaws tight and brows pinched.

"Hello, Conner," Superman said, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Superman," Conner curtly replied. M'gann nudged him in the ribs.

"I'm sorry, Superman, but Conner is just surprised to see you here, that's all," M'gann told the Man of Steel. Superman nodded.

"It's all right, M'gann," Superman told the Martian. "Truth be told, I'm a little surprised to be here myself."

"What are you doing here?" Conner barked. Superman frowned.

"I was…convinced to come invite you to my family's Christmas party. You don't have to come if you don't want to, but it would…make me happy if you would show up," Superman told him. Conner opened his mouth to reply but M'gann stilled him by placing her hand over his mouth.

"He'd love to, Superman," M'gann told the Man of Steel. Both Superman and Superboy frowned at her.

"Well – if you'll just get your things together then, we should be going," Superman told his clone. Conner dragged M'gann to a secluded area of the living room.

"You knew why he was here, didn't you?" Conner growled. M'gann gifted him with an awkward grin.

"Maybe," she said.

"Why didn't you tell me why he was here?" he demanded. M'gann cupped his cheek.

"Conner, this might be your one chance to fix things between you and Superman. Do you really want to pass this up?" she asked him.

And before he could speak she answered "Well, I couldn't let you pass this up before hearing what he had to say."

"You heard him," Conner growled, "he's not even here of his own free will. He was "convinced'"to come invite me. Why should I want to go spend time with a man who doesn't even want me around?"

"Conner," M'gann said, with sad eyes, "whatever reason he has for showing up today doesn't change the fact that he did. Don't look too hard at the reasons why he's here, you should be looking at ways to grow closer to him. After all, he is your father," she told him.

"He's not my father!" Conner denied immediately.

"And he never will be until you two can patch this rift that's grown between you," she told him. Patting his cheek, M'gann asked, "Conner, please go with him. If not for yourself then please do it for me. I don't want you to be here alone on Christmas."

"M'gann," Conner began to say.

"Don't, Conner," she told him; placing a finger to his lips, "I know you won't regret this."

"All right, M'gann," Conner conceded, nodding his head. M'gann smiled.

"You won't regret this," the Martian girl said, throwing her arms around his neck. And despite knowing that they were in a crowded room with everyone watching she still placed a quick kiss on his lips.

When they pulled away most of the room had gone silent. M'gann gave a sheepish smile to the room before hurrying towards her uncle who was looking at her intensely.

"Well, I suppose this is it for now," Kaldur said as he took Conner aside. Kaldur extended a hand for Conner to shake, which the two young men quickly did.

"Stay safe out there, fish stick," Conner told the Atlantian. They both traded a smile before Kaldur returned to his king. Aquaman quickly escorted his protégé out of the room.

"Well, it's been fun," Tim said as he approached Conner. The two traded handshakes before Tim said, "You might want to brush up on your manners before heading out with the Big Blue."

"I'll keep that in mind," Conner smiled.

Tim soon left with Batman, soon to be replaced by Bart who zipped over to say farewell.

"I'm not good on the whole goodbye scene," Bart said, bumping knuckles with the clone, "so I'll just say 'take care'."

"Right," Conner nodded.

As Icon waited, Rocket approached him. It looked as if she was going to say something before she shrugged it off and just said, "Take care."

"You too," Conner told her. Then she and Icon disappeared from the room.

Finally, it left the two Martians and Superman in the room with him. M'gann approached him one last time, throwing her arms around him and asking him to "call".

"I will," he promised.

And then Conner was alone with his idol.

Both Superman and Superboy shifted uneasily. Finally, Conner said, "I'll go get my stuff."

December 25, 3:59 PM

After Conner and Superman – now introduced as Clark Kent – were teleported to Clark's old Metropolis apartment, the two Kents spent the rest of their trip to Smallville, Kansas in silence.

Conner kept to himself because of his mounting anger that he would learn another of Superman's secrets now of all times.

Clark kept to himself, fearing that if he opened his mouth he'd say something to anger the boy more than he already was.

The car ride seemed to fly by too soon, and in a matter of two hours to the car was pulling into the Kent's driveway.

Clark turned the ignition off, silencing the car. He turned to Conner with a look that seemed part stern, part dread, and part hope.

"This is my folks," Clark told the clone. He motioned to the farm, "every year they invite me back to have Christmas dinner with the family. This year I invited a few extra."

"Do they know about me?" Conner questioned. Clark frowned.

"I'm sure they won't take it so bad," Clark said, but inwardly thought, at least not as bad as me…

"I hope so," he said .. it would suck to be rejected by what were essentially his grandparents as well he thought. Clark offered an awkward smile.

"It won't be so bad," Clark promised. Conner heaved a resigned sigh.

The two got out of the car, taking a calm pace towards the door. They both could easily hear the celebrations already commencing inside thanks to their super-hearing.

Whatever was Clark's train of thought as he grasped the doorknob to the Kent's home was obscured by his own unease for the clone's presence. Such thoughts as how his parents, Kara, or Donna would take to the clone's presence were shoved aside to his own worries and insecurities about Conner's presence in his life.

All thoughts stopped on his part as soon as the door was thrown open.

There was no one in the hall, but still Clark felt as if he had virtually opened a door to a piece of his life that he didn't want to explore. Standing in the doorway, Conner felt a magnitude of emotions emanating from his progenitor. His own emotions and thoughts were a-swim in the ocean of his mind. How could he think to agree to this madness?

Coming out of the kitchen, a blond haired girl that mirrored much of the same features as Clark paused in surprise. In one hand was a hot pan; steam and a mouth-watering smell wafting from it. In the other hand was a large pitcher of juice.

"Clark!" the girl exclaimed. In a rush of excitement the girl hurried towards the masked Man of Steel. However, she paused short of hugging Clark, as not to waste anything.

"Hello, Kara," Clark smiled easily towards his cousin. The young Kryptonian smiled ecstatically.

"Heya, big guy," Kara said in way of greeting, "Where have you been hiding these last two weeks? I've tried to reach you but I always get your answering machine."

"I've been busy in the Fortress," Clark said, with a light blush decorating his face. Kara's gaze focused in on Conner, who was shifting uneasily at seeing this girl talk so easily with the man that his DNA sprung from.

"I bet you have," Kara said, winking her eye back to her cousin. Jerking her head in Conner's direction, she asked, "Who's this?" Conner didn't miss the implied meaning in the girl's words. She was asking if he knew Clark's secret.

"This is Conner, Conner Kent," Clark said, motioning to the boy. He paused, seemingly uneasy with what he wanted to say, before finally blurting, "He's my son."

December 25, 4:52 PM

Diner had been postponed with the introduction of Conner Kent into the Kent family. Naturally, there was a round of "why's" and "how's" that Clark had to answer. Diana, the closest person to Clark's heart, watched all this with a vague, humored smile.

Later that evening "You bloody loved that, didn't you?" Clark accused as he sat down at the table with his girlfriend. Diana smiled.

"You bet," she sipped at a glass of juice that Martha Kent poured for her.

Both adults idly watched as Kara and Donna – Clark's Kryptonian cousin and Diana's little sister respectively – grilled the cloned Kryptonian on everything from his academics to his choice of toothpaste.

Both Kara and Donna seemed fascinated with Conner's presence. It was understandable. There were very few teenage superheroes at their scope of power. It was easy to see that the two had already accepted Conner.

Jonathan and Martha were, understandably, shaken by the revelation that a secret government group had cloned their only son, and that the clone was anything but like their son. But eing who they were, , they easily accepted the clone into their lives just as they had Clark all those years ago. Plus, Clark was damn sure he heard his mother muttering about "grandbabies" sometime after she had regained consciousness.

As for Conner, he was still reeling from Clark's admission to their relationship. The fact that Clark called him "son" instead of "clone" threw the young superhero for a monumental loop.

Why would Clark so easily claim to be his father now but be so distant on a usual basis? What was the reason for Clark's sudden change in attitude?

Even Clark couldn't say the reason why he had called Conner his "son". Clark would like to say that that was easiest explanation available but Clark knew that was untrue. In the Kent family saying that Conner was his "clone" was easier to accept then saying he was his "son". Clark didn't know exactly why the word "son" was the first description that came to mind when he was explaining Conner to Kara, but it was the first thing to pop into his head.

Clark didn't have an answer.

"You're being pretty quiet, love," Diana said, placing a hand on Clark's wrist. Clark nodded absently, studiously trying to ignore Conner on the other side of the table who was busy locked in a conversation with Kara and Donna.

"I've got a lot on my mind," Clark told her. Diana smiled gently.

"I can imagine," she breathed in with a smile, stroking her boyfriend's wrist idly. "It took a lot of guts to ask him to come. I'm proud of you." She said.

"Funny, I don't feel so proud of myself," Clark admitted glumly.

"Don't be that way," Diana said. She patted his forearm. "You did a wonderful job."

Clark said, sighing deeply. "I just can't help feeling that I should do more."

"Then do more" she said.

"What do you think I should do?" Clark asked her. She nudged him.

"Go talk to him," she told him, "be honest." Clark nodded.

Swallowing nervously, Clark stood from his seat, saying, "Conner, I need to speak with you."

The room silenced immediately.

Conner slowly stood and then followed Clark out the door.

December 25, 5:15 PM

Clark and Conner arrived at the loft in the barn.

"When I was young my father made this loft for me so that I had a place to go when I wanted to get away from the world," Clark said as he took a seat in a chair, "he called it my 'Fortress of Solitude'."

"Why did you call me up here?" Conner asked, bluntly. Clark took a breath.

"I called you up here because there're some things that we have to clear up before we can continue," Clark told him.

"Like what?" Conner asked.

"Diana's right," Clark said, starting, "despite how I look at it you aren't going away. So I can either accept you or deny you any connection to your heritage."

"So what are you going to do?" Conner asked, though he felt as if he already knew the answer. It was something he had been dreading for a long time now.

"I'd like to think that I'm not cold hearted enough to deny you a place in your heritage," Clark said. He kneaded his hands together. "Plus, I doubt Diana, my parents, or Kara and Donna would forgive me if I did." Clark took a deep breath.

"I'm not stopping you," Conner said.

"Yes, but I think you deserve more than that," Clark told him. "All this time I've been running from the truth because the responsibilities frightened me."

"I can move mountains, swim through lava and not miss a step, fly around the world and save the day a dozen times over, but when it comes to being a father I'm stopped cold."

Conner listened.

"I'm afraid of having someone else's life so literally in my hands. I'm afraid of the fear and the loathing you'll no doubt go through because of your heritage, of the enemies that you'll face, of the powers you'll develop as time goes by," Clark sighed, "I'm afraid of helping you through the very same problems that I barely managed to stumble through in high school, of being popular, of worrying about friendships, proms, of the girl next door, of first love, of first betrayal. And I'm afraid that if I screw up you're loathing and resentment will turn you into something that I to this day fight with on a daily basis."

"Superman doesn't fear anything," Conner said.

"But Clark Kent does," Clark admitted, "and the truth is I'm very afraid."

"So you're afraid that you'll turn me into a villain?" Conner demanded angrily.

"Yes, and no," Clark said. He cupped his hands together.

"I'm afraid that your anger and hatred of me will lead you down a path where you will eventually look at yourself and realize that you hate the man that you've become," Clark told him. "I think that that's a fear that all father's share. And it's one I've been running away from for a while now."

"With the powers that you have and the one's you will one day possess, there's a lot that you need to learn. How to control your powers, how to control your anger, and how to learn to forgive…

"There's others teaching me… Black Canary, Batman, Red Tornado and Shazam," Conner said.

"Yes, but they don't know what you're going through," Clark sighed, "believe me, being a teenage Kryptonian is a lot harder to understand then what others believe."

"What do you mean?" Conner asked.

"You've probably never noticed it," Clark said. He explained, "A Kryptonian has two sides to them. In humans these sides are called the Superego and the ID. The Superego is the conscious state of mind, the sane, coherent part. The ID is the primal, child side, the one where all the dark thoughts and intentions come from, and the one that says 'it's mine'. In Kryptonians the ID is especially prominent, even more so in teenage years," Clark told him, "If it wasn't for my parents Kara and I could have turned out a lot worse."

"So I'm a danger to everyone then?" Conner asked.

"Yes, and no," Clark said.

"Everyone struggles with good and evil, it's just in Kryptonians our own desires manifest a lot stronger than in other species. It's why there are so many bad apples in Kryptonian history," Clark told him. "After all, before Kryptonians were scientists they were a warrior people."

"And you want to teach me?" Conner asked.

"I do," replied Clark.

"For all we know it just might work out after all…"

"Does that mean you want me here…in your life?" Conner asked.

"I do," Clark said.

December 25, 6:02 PM

After diner Kara, Donna, and Conner went outside to compete in a super powered snowball fight. Of course, both girls naturally teamed up against Conner, dousing the Kryptonian in a layer of snow. Kara even went so far as to use her super freeze breath to turn the snow into super hard ice. She then put a top hat on Conner and called him Frosty the snowman.

Jonathan and Martha were busy inside, enjoying some hot cocoa and curled up on the couch together.

However, Clark and Diana were seated out on the porch on the swing, Diana lying across Clark's lap.

"Even though I said I was proud before," Diana claimed as she watched the three super powered teenagers celebrate Christmas in their own way, "you have no idea how proud I am of you now."

"It's because of you, you know," Clark told her, also watching the three teenagers, "if you hadn't of pushed me so hard I would never have attempted this." Diana shrugged.

"What can I say?" Diana said to herself, "I'm a miracle worker." Clark chuckled.

Moments of silence later, Clark asked, "Do you think I'll be any good?"

"Hmm?" Diana asked.

"As a father?" Clark asked.

"No doubt about it, love," Diana told him. She kissed his cheek.

"You sure?" he asked. Diana laughed.

"Of course!" she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him tenderly. "You're Superman… you can do anything!" she said.

"I love you, you know that, right?" he asked her. She laughed again.

Getting up from his lap, Diana hurried away, exclaiming, "Then why don't you marry me?

Clark watched her join the snowball fight with the teenagers. At that moment millions of thoughts circled round in his mind. The foremost was that he hoped he'd live up to Diana and Conner's expectations of him. The second was that he'd have to ask his dad for a few pointers in how he dealt with a teenaged Kryptonian not once, but twice. The third was that he hoped that Kara wouldn't corrupt Conner like she had Donna. And the last was a simple "Maybe I will…"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay first I want to thank PROFESSOR IMAGE for allowing me to take over this his wonder idea and run with it. For without him I wouldn't have the foundations for my other stories; YOUNG AND RESTLESS, HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING WITH WONDER WOMAN, and ABSOLUTE. Now to clear a few things up, in my version the Young Justice , there are three teams. TEAM ONE are the first graduates, we meet them in HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING WITH WONDER WOMAN, TEAM II we meet in YOUNG AND RESTLESS and TEAM III will consist of the expanded team from the rest of the series flowing into ABSOLUTE. In case you missed it Wally West is my Flash and Bart Allen is my Kid Flash and Tim Drake is my Robin. Being an older comic geek I remember their run as Young Justice from the comics and wanted to honor that. I also wanted to keep Wally with Artemis but as Tigress. In my version Connor is found by Tim, Bart and Aqualad, who is the leader of Team II. Hope you guys enjoyed this prequel. Don't forget to check out my other stories…. Later days :X**


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